A lot to talk about, but instead of throwing it all in today’s blog I’m going to stretch it to as many blogs as I can. Your humble narrator has been blog-lazy lately and it’s always nice to get some good ideas for content. We’re quickly approaching the 365 blogs landmark day!

What I’m going to focus on tonight was last night’s show. Erin and I hit the Mercy Lounge in Nashville to see OK Go as part of Erin’s “Birthday Week.” This isn’t, however, a blog to talk about how awesome OK Go was. They were great, don’t get me wrong. Probably one of the most fun shows I’ve been to and the venue was the absolute most perfect place one could see such a band: small, yet roomy, a second floor stage, bar and floor, giving it a nice “loft” feeling. A giant fan spun above our heads all night, and while it was rather hot by the end of the night, I never felt uncomfortable. The show was sold out for the boys of OK Go and their fun form of quasi-electronic pop punk influenced rock, but while they were very good, I was even more impressed with the opening acts.

New York City’s Samuel opened the night with a very interesting “bang.” His show rocked really hard, and that was cool, considering that he was backed by drums and two girls, one switching between the violin and keyboards, the other switching between another violin and a tambourine. Very weird that such a combination can come together to rock the house, but they’ve figured it out and they did it well. Samuel is a great front man and the musicians he has backing him up are extremely talented, not to mention beautiful. His songs were extremely well written and catchy, having an entire room of people who had never heard of him before singing the hook to his final song with him.

Speaking of beautiful, the highlight of the night, to me, were Nashville natives Those Darlins. What an awesome sound! The band consists of a male drummer, and three female guitarists / vocalists, all switching between lead guitar, rhythm guitar and bass. Since the band was 3/4 female, it would be all too easy to compare them to the likes of L7 or the Donnas, but I described them to Erin as what would happen if Iggy Pop and the Stooges just happened to be female and they went bar hopping on Broadway in Nashville and decided to try to play country music. Those Darlins took it upon themselves to deliver a southern fried form of punk rock that appeared to have a wide range of influences. During their set I heard some Joan Jett and Dead Kennedys, as well, of course, as the Stooges and even Credence Clearwater Revival. I bought up a t-shirt and their self titled album and have enjoyed both today. They apparently will be finishing up OK Go’s tour with them and that’s as far as I’ve seen…Here’s to hoping they make it to Knoxville soon!

btw, Jessi Darlin (3rd from left) is a total babe…

Here they are playing “Funstix Party”

Enjoy today’s haiku:

One Hour Photo:
Creepier than I had thought
Harry Potter Time